Chapter 907 - Pill Concoction
After leaving the library, Ling Han immediately went out of the Academy, and strolled around the Imperial Capital in search of a pharmacy.
The practice of cultivation would always be inseparable from alchemical pills, but the concocting of alchemical pills could only be done by an alchemist. This limited the number of pharmacies available. Ling Han had visited a few, but found that the scope of these pharmacies was too limited—the alchemical pills put up for sale were of Heaven Grade and below, so it would be impossible for him to purchase the ingredients required for the concoction of Replenishing Spirit Pill there.
Seeing that the payment there was settled using gold and silver, one would already know—the level was too low indeed.
After looking for a while, Ling Han finally found a pharmacy with a large shop front and a big signage. He had yet to go in, but saw that there were four guards standing at the door, each with the cultivation level of the Shattering Void Tier.
He knew it now: inside this pharmacy, there would definitely be something that he needed.
Sure enough, the alchemical pills and medicinal herbs here were very complete, and the highest-grade alchemical pill even reached the seventh layer of the Immortal level!
What kind of concept was this?
That was for the consumption of elites who had attained the higher levels of the Sun Moon Tier. If Ling Han was to consume one now, his body would explode, and he would die.
This also applied to the True Origin Stone—the condensed Spiritual Qi of the heaven and earth contained within it was too concentrated. If he were to refine it now, he would only be courting death, and it would do nothing to upgrade his cultivation level. Therefore, now this cultivation treasure could only be used as currency.
Ling Han was not in the least reluctant to part with it. As the saying went, you have to lose some to gain some. As long as he would be able to concoct Replenishing Spirit Pill, it would help him generate a lot more True Origin Stones in return.
Fortunately, the purchasing power of True Origin Stones was considerably good. A standard-size True Origin Stone—that would be about 500 grams—could buy five Replenishing Spirit Pills, or as much raw materials as adequate for ten portions.
Ten portions were not only able to produce ten Replenishing Spirit Pills; rather, each portion could produce up to five pills. It was calculated according to the size of the standard alchemy furnace, taking into consideration the difficulty of interweaving the patterns. This was the standard.
However, few alchemists could refine all the ingredients in the furnace—five were the limit, and being able to refine three would already be above the standard.
Taking into account the cost, as long as ten portions of the ingredients could be refined, merely 10% success rate of pill concoction was sufficient to earn back the cost. From this point of view, alchemy was a profitable business—the same was true in the Immortal Realm and small world alike.
It was a pity becoming an alchemist was too difficult, and an alchemist with a high success rate of pill concoction was even rarer.
After learning that Ling Han wanted to concoct the Replenishing Spirit Pill, the staff was very enthusiastic, and said that if Ling Han was successful in concocting said pill, they could buy it, but not at the price of one True Origin Stone for five pills. It would be one True Origin stone in exchange for seven pills instead.
They would have to earn something, right?
Shattering Void Tier was definitely the largest group of cultivators in the Chaotic Stars Majestic Empire, so the Replenishing Spirit Pill was very popular, and there was no need to fear that it wouldn’t all sell even if there was a large number available. On the contrary, this kind of alchemical pill had always provided a small profit but rapid turnover, and was more effective in attracting customers. Sometimes, it would even be sold at a loss.
Ling Han did not care about this; he not only bought ready-made ingredients, but also seeds.
Having such a good thing like the Black Tower, it would be silly not to make full use of it!
Soon, he would have an endless supply of raw ingredients, and no longer need to buy them here again.
Moreover, the Replenishing Spirit Pill was in the end merely a Level Ten alchemical pil. Most of the ingredients used would only require a hundred years of growth, and only a few of the ingredients would require twice as long. For the Black Tower, it would only take two months.
Ling Han had spent two True Origin Stones—one was to buy ten portions of the ingredients, and the other one was used to buy plenty of seeds.
After returning to the Academy, he began to bury his head in concocting the pills.
He naturally had no difficulty in purifying the ingredients, but he took a deep breath next—the next step was a crucial one: concocting the pill itself.
Open up the furnace!
Within the Black Tower, Ling Han didn’t have to worry about the extreme temperature of the flame. Inside it, he was a true God.
Boom , the flames were raging, and Ling Han began to put the ingredients into the alchemy furnace. Refined with True Fire, the energy in the medicinal ingredients began to volatilize, and the patterns were intertwined.
Ling Han acted, reorganizing these patterns to meet the requirements of Replenishing Spirit Pill. It was so that the pill would give the desired effect.
He kept on putting in the medicinal ingredients, while the veins were also becoming more and more complicated.
With the sound of a bang, Ling Han sighed—the furnace exploded. He had failed.
As an Alchemy Emperor, how long had it been since he last had a taste of failing a concoction?
Ling Han couldn’t help but think of the past. He was constantly swimming in the ocean of the path of alchemy. Explosion of the furnace was common. How would there be an Alchemy Emperor in the later years without so many failures first?
Instead of immediately starting to refine the second batch of ingredients, he closed his eyes and recalled the previous attempt in detail, trying to ascertain the cause of his failure. If he couldn’t figure it out, then even if he were to attempt concoction a hundred times, he would still fail a hundred times.
After a long time, Ling Han began the process of refining for the second time.
Boom ! He failed again.
However, if someone else was present, they would find that Ling Han’s failure this time came later than the last attempt.
In other words, he was making progress.
After summarizing his failure, he made another attempt.
Boom ! This was the third failure, but no matter—there was improvement.
At the fourth attempt, he still failed. For the fifth attempt, he still failed. Then, the sixth attempt also ended in failure.
But, the corners of Ling Han’s lips revealed a smile. He had lost track of time, and fully devoted himself to concocting the pills. He was confident enough that he would succeed in the seventh attempt.
‘Come!’
He was extremely cautious; his hands were constantly moving, exerting a strong force, conditioning the patterns of the medicinal ingredients, and making the different ingredients resonate with each other. He was interweaving the patterns in such a way to give the effects that a single medicinal ingredient could never produce.
After half a day.
Ling Han’s expression was solemn as the most crucial time had arrived.
“Open!” He humphed lightly, and his hands instantly began moving innumerable times. Three blazes of flames burst forth.
It was Three Fire Guide, a secret technique of his own creation.
He suddenly opened the lid, and saw that there were five jade green round pills in the furnace, but with the opening of the lid, pa, pa, pa, pa , four pills shattered to pieces, leaving only the last one leaping about. It seemed to have a life of its own, attempting to escape.
Ling Han quickly took hold of it, and went out of the Black Tower, intending to experience the pill tribulation of a Level Ten alchemical pill. But, as he stood in the yard, he didn’t see any signs of thunderclouds all along.
Could it be that because it was refined in the Black Tower, it was disregarded by the heavens and earth?
“Meow!” The cries of a very angry cat were heard. A big fat cat threw itself over, unsheathing its claws to scratch Ling Han.
“Hey, hey, hey, are we not good friends?” Ling Han quickly dodged.
“Meow! Meow! Meow! Meow! Meow!” The fat cat was screaming incessantly.
“It said that it has waited for you for seven days, but you have not appeared. Where was the meat you promised?” said the Small Tower.
Ling Han mouth slightly twitched. “You can even talk to cats?”
“What am I not capable of?” Small Tower responded in a tsundere tone.
Ling Han was dumbfounded. ‘Seven days have actually passed?’
He grabbed the fat cat, and said, “Alright, alright, I will treat you to some meat! Please stay your hand… no, I mean claws. Otherwise, how am I going to make you a meal?”
The fat cat finally stopped attacking Ling Han. It sat on its hind legs, bearing an aloof and proud expression.
‘Humans, you all are the slaves of this royal cat!’